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Monday, April 20, 2009

Chicken Pesto Pizza

When I saw this recipe for Pesto Pizza, I knew I had to try it. The combination of the vegetables, chicken, and Italian seasoning that is cooked together before put on the pizza just sounded great. This dinner was so delicious, and very adaptable to any kind of vegetable you want to throw in. I had some Trader Joe's refrigerated pizza dough, so I used that. For some reason, I don't have much luck with this dough . . . it always sticks to the pan - even if I put copious amounts of olive oil underneath - and who wants to do that?! Bob and I both agreed that a more substantial crust was necessary to stand up to these ingredients. He even came up with an awesome variation that we are going to try next (stay tuned!)

Bob was watching a show about Venetian food on the Travel Channel as I was preparing this dinner, can you tell I was inspired?

There is a cutting mat underneath those veggies, I promise!


Chicken Pesto Pizza

Original ingredients:
1 pound chicken breast tenders
1 Tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
3 Tablespoons pesto
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 medium zucchini, halved twice and thinly sliced
yellow, red, orange, and green bell peppers, chopped
mushrooms, thinly sliced

Also see the link below for a homemade pizza dough recipe!

My ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 Tablespoon, give or take, "Pizza seasoning" (same stuff as Italian)
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 orange pepper, diced
~2-3 Tablespoons basil mixture (see below)
1 cup, give or take, shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 package Trader Joe's refrigerated pizza dough - I can't recommend this! :( I think Boboli would be good though!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F.

1. Heat a little bit of olive oil over medium/high heat, and cook the chicken for a few minutes. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

2. Before chicken is cooked through, add vegetables and more Italian seasoning. Cook until chicken is done and veggies are tender.

3. Roll out dough on pan sprayed with cooking spray or greased with oil. Prebake crust for a few minutes.

4. Spread pesto evenly over pizza crust. Top with chicken/veggie mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

So, I'm calling my pesto a "basil mixture" because most pesto has pine nuts and I obviously can't use those. What I did was use about 1/2 tablespoon basil puree (comes in a tube at the grocery store), added a little grated Parmesan and some olive oil and whisked it together. That's it!

Source: Adapted from Meet Me in the Kitchen

9 comments:

  1. That pizza is a thing of beauty!

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  2. I love pesto on my pizza!

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  3. I love PESTO! I gotta try this! Pesto and goat cheese pizza, here I come!

    Your foodie friend,

    Jenifer

    J&J DISH

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  4. Yum - looks amazing Meghan! Pesto pizza is just so good!

    I also really love the new picture at the top of your blog - the chocolate dripping over the side of the cake makes my mouth water :)

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  5. OH YUM!! Look at all that pizza flavor goodness! :)

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  6. Your pizza looks great. I have a few tips on the pizza crust.

    If you take it out of the fridge, let it sit in the bag on the counter until it gets to room temperature. If its too cold, when you roll it out, it will not stay, and come right back to you.

    If you are cooking it on a cookie sheet, don't use olive oil, but coat the sheet with corn meal. That will make the pizza slide off after cooking. Using the olive oil will make it absorb too much into the dough which is why it will stick.

    My sister makes the best pizzas ever and I used to have the same problem, and now I don't! Good luck with that next time. :0)

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  7. This looks great, even though I don't really like peppers. You might have a future career in food photography, Meghan! I love the pics and creative setup of the ingredients!

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  8. P.S. - Is that new font on the title of the blog the same font you and Bob used for your wedding invitations? It looks familiar. :)

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  9. Thanks everyone!

    Jenn - thanks for the tips! They are very helpful. I actually just bought some corn meal so I will try this next time!

    Lisa - haha thanks, but unfortunately in the food blogging world my pictures are between sub-par and par :) Yes it is the font from our wedding invites - you have a great memory!!

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